NEW BILL IN CONGRESS BOLSTERS NATIONAL
BACK UP YOUR BIRTH CONTROL CAMPAIGN

Press conference will announce legislation to support education on emergency contraception

Washington, DC – To increase awareness about emergency contraception (EC), Senator Patty Murray (WA) and Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (NY) are today introducing legislation that would direct federal health agencies to inform the public that there is a safe, effective way to prevent pregnancy after sex. The bill – the Emergency Contraception Education Act – is part of a growing effort to make sure women and health care providers know that there is a “back-up” birth control method available in the U.S.

“If we want to reduce unintended pregnancies, we need to get serious about giving women options – and that includes emergency contraception,” said Kirsten Moore, President of the Reproductive Health Technologies Project. “Too many women don’t know that they can get a dose of EC and keep it in their medicine cabinets, just in case. The legislation introduced today, and on-going public education efforts like the Back Up Your Birth Control campaign, can help change that.”

Back Up Your Birth Control officially kicks off on March 20th, but momentum is already building for greater awareness about emergency contraception:

• Legislation to improve access to this back-up method of birth control has been introduced in more than a dozen state legislatures.
• The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is encouraging its more than 40,000 members to discuss EC with their patients – and to provide prescriptions for it in advance.
• The FDA has extended the shelf life on the two “dedicated” emergency contraception products available by prescription in the U.S. (Preven and Plan B), making it possible for women to keep EC
  on hand for two years or more.
• The EC Hotline (1-888-NOT-2-LATE), managed by the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, receives 60,000 calls a year and refers callers to more than 3,700 health care providers who can prescribe EC.

Emergency contraceptive pills can help reduce the risk of pregnancy by up to 89 percent if taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse or birth control failure. Experts estimate that widespread use of this “back-up” contraceptive method could prevent as many as half of the 3 million unintended pregnancies in the U.S. each year.

Back Up Your Birth Control is a coalition of more than 100 national and local medical organizations and women’s health advocacy groups (see below). It is being coordinated by the non-profit Reproductive Health Technologies Project.

BACK UP YOUR BIRTH CONTROL CAMPAIGN CO-SPONSORS

National Organizations:

Advocates for Youth
American Association of University Women
American Civil Liberties Union – Reproductive Freedom Project
American Medical Women’s Association
American Society for Emergency Contraception
American Society for Reproductive Medicine
Association of Reproductive Health Professionals
Center for Reproductive Law and Policy
Center for Women Policy Studies
Coalition of Labor Union Women
Family Health International
Feminist Majority Foundation
Gynetics
Ipas
National Abortion Federation
National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League
National Coalition of Abortion Providers
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
National Council of Jewish Women
National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association
National Organization for Women
National Partnership for Women and Families
Pacific Institute for Women’s Health
Pathfinder International
Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
ProChoice Resource Center
Program for Appropriate Technology in Health
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States
Voters for Choice Action Fund
Women’s Capital Corporation
Zero Population Growth

Regional and Local Organizations:

Aradia Women's Health Center
California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League
California Family Health Council
DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
Family Planning Association of Northeast Ohio
Health Care of South East Massachusetts
Missouri Family Health Council
National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League New York
New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault
Planned Parenthood of Kansas
Planned Parenthood of North Carolina
Texas Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League
Texas Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association

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